The Power of Pain

Chapter 49

Minerva had just enough time to bring her arm up to her chest as the entire barrier shuddered and gave way with concussive force. All five witches and wizards flew back with a sharp cry as the shield dissolved in crackling flames, a the heavy smoke pushing outward dissolving under its own dilution.

Minerva was the first to get her wits about her as the force had merely pressed herself into the willow that she had stood against. Rasping, she tried to catch her stolen breath. When the center cleared, her heart ground to a stop.

Harry was next to come around, stumbling forward from the tree line, a large gash bleeding down his forehead he stumbled toward where Ginny had been. His voice desperately calling out for her.

More chorus' of cries echoed beneath the soft wail of Muggle sirens. Minerva suspected that the blast had undone all the protections of the place. She pushed herself forward tripping lightly in her haste. Where were they?

"Severus!?" It was Draco's voice that cut through as he ran towards the remains of the house. His wife sharp on his heels.

Ginny and Harry turned next as both sets of young adults turned their attentions to the smoldering ruins. Minerva picked up her pace panting heavily as her aged heart just couldn't keep up with the younger generation.

"Hermione!?" Harry desperately called out as he grew closer, his eyes searching through the lingering smoke. He gritted his teeth, climbing over a bit of the crumbled fireplace, using its dislodged stones to bring him onto the foundation. His heart jumped into his throat when his eyes took in the scene before him.

Hermione lay, almost just the same as when he'd seen her fall but the chair that had been under her had been crushed as if a great weight had pushed her down into it. Her face was covered with ash and blood turning her skin a sickly ashen brown. The hair around her head dark and matted, laying under a large stone. One arm was curled at an impossible angle beneath her, her shirt torn as if long claws had caught along the surface. Her other hand was stretched out over her head, lying precariously close to another-still. Dirt and blood crusted fingertips a hairs width away from actually touching.

It was Ginny's keening wail that jerked him from his observations. She pushed her way past him pulling the bit of stone that had come to rest along the back of Hermione's head. Ginny fell down to her knees as she sobbed heavily, her hands hovering unsurely.

It was then Draco joined them, pushing away the remains of the pocket door off of Snape, he grunted and hissed as he tossed it aside with strength only adrenaline could have produced. He too, fell beside his one-time mentor, a hand moving to the man's chest. Draco's eyes searched for any plausible sign that he was still with him. A deep sob caught in the back of his throat as cataloged the man's injuries, raising his trembling wand trying to decide where to start.

Severus was prone on his back, his lower half still partially trapped under the remains of a kitchen wall. His coat was burned and torn asunder leaving the white of the shirt underneath stained and dark. Five large deep gashes into the torn fabric coated were with the muck of ash and blood. His face was completely relaxed, Hermione's white wand loose in his grip at his waist.

"They're dead..." Harry's sob broke through the back of his hand, as he panted beside his wife. His wand hand curling tightly into her shoulder as she begged for Hermione to answer.

"Not yet. Mr. Potter." Minerva had finally come to join them, a stern look of focus on her face as she brought herself up with them. Her wand moved in a complex array moving over the both of them at once.